Mutthiah Bhagavatar
Viswanath Nanjundiah
the time, place etc of Shri.Mutthiah Bhagavatar. (I believe he is the
composer of "Himagiri tanaye", "Jaalandara", "Sudhaamayee"... Correct me
please if I am wrong). Could someone please post an article on him.
Thank you very much.
vishwa
Vidyasankar Sundaresan
Mohan) writes:
- In article <Bx9tK...@beach.csulb.edu> vis...@beach.csulb.edu
(Viswanath Nanjundiah) writes:
- >Thanks a lot for answering my earlier questions. I would like to know
- >the time, place etc of Shri.Mutthiah Bhagavatar. (I believe he is the
- >composer of "Himagiri tanaye", "Jaalandara", "Sudhaamayee"... Correct
me
- >please if I am wrong). Could someone please post an article on him.
- >Thank you very much.
- >vishwa
-
-
- Let me try to give the information about him as much I
can.Sri.Muthiah
- Bagavathar was born in the town Harikaesanallore in Tamil
Nadu.(Thirunelveli
- District!).As the name indicates,he was famous for his Musical
Discourse.He was
- one of the Greatest Composers of this century.He was a contemporary of
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Maharaja
- Swathi ThirunaaL.
Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar was not a contemporary of Swati
Tirunal. Swati was a younger contemporary of the famous Trinity. Muthaih
Bhagavathar was associated with the Travancore Court in publishing
compositions of Swati Tirunal and other musicians of Swati's court. These
were not knwon much to the general public then. Semmangudi followed up on
this and popularised many of these kritis.
Because of his Music Knowledge,he was adsorning the court of
- Mysore Chamaraja Udaiyaar.Therefore he has sung some songs over his
Family Deity
- Lordess Chaamundaeswari(His Varnam `Sri Raja Maadhandgi' in `Sudhdha
Danyaasi',
- `Saarasamukhi'in Gauda Malhar).He spent his later time i the city of
Madurai
- wher he polished some deciples,Madurai Mani Iyer and Sankara Sivam(Guru
of T.N.
- Sesha Gopalan).
- He has to his credit about 200 songs and 23 ragas.The famous
creations are
- the raga Valaj(now discussed with Kalaavathi),Gauda Malhaar &
Neeroeshta(The
- lips don't touch in the song `Raaja Raaja Raajitahae').I guess even Umaa
Baranam
- is his creation.
Neeroshtha does not use both the ma and the pa. Thus even when singing the
arohana and avarohana of this raga, the lips do not touch. This feature is
preserved in the kriti. I'm not sure Umabharanam is his creation though.
If I'm not mistaken, there is a kriti of Thyagaraja's in this raga.
Some of his `Chittai Swaras' do carry meanings(What
- Dr.Balamurali does nowadays).His songs are notorious for its `Jandai'
and `Dhadu
- Swaras,(the style of Madurai Mani Iyer) and `Sarva Lagu'(Even split of
the
- tempo).The carry his `Mudhra', `Harikaesa'.He gets the credit of the
First
- person in Carnatic Music to get the Honarary Doctorate Degree and the
`Sangeetha
- Kalanidhi' award of Music Academy in Madras.
- Some additional information may be added on to this article.Thanks a
lot.
-
- MOHAN
-
-
-
Karna Ranjani which is becoming very famous nowadays is a creation of
Muthiah Bhagavathar's.
S.Vidyasankar
Thyagarajan Mohan
Let me try to give the information about him as much I can.Sri.Muthiah
Bagavathar was born in the town Harikaesanallore in Tamil Nadu.(Thirunelveli
District!).As the name indicates,he was famous for his Musical Discourse.He was
one of the Greatest Composers of this century.He was a contemporary of Maharaja
Swathi ThirunaaL.Because of his Music Knowledge,he was adsorning the court of
Mysore Chamaraja Udaiyaar.Therefore he has sung some songs over his Family Deity
Lordess Chaamundaeswari(His Varnam `Sri Raja Maadhandgi' in `Sudhdha Danyaasi',
`Saarasamukhi'in Gauda Malhar).He spent his later time i the city of Madurai
wher he polished some deciples,Madurai Mani Iyer and Sankara Sivam(Guru of T.N.
Sesha Gopalan).
He has to his credit about 200 songs and 23 ragas.The famous creations are
the raga Valaj(now discussed with Kalaavathi),Gauda Malhaar & Neeroeshta(The
lips don't touch in the song `Raaja Raaja Raajitahae').I guess even Umaa Baranam
is his creation. Some of his `Chittai Swaras' do carry meanings(What
Dr.Balamurali does nowadays).His songs are notorious for its `Jandai' and `Dhadu
Swaras,(the style of Madurai Mani Iyer) and `Sarva Lagu'(Even split of the
tempo).The carry his `Mudhra', `Harikaesa'.He gets the credit of the First
person in Carnatic Music to get the Honarary Doctorate Degree and the `Sangeetha
Kalanidhi' award of Music Academy in Madras.
Some additional information may be added on to this article.Thanks a lot.
MOHAN
Seetamraju
>the time, place etc of Shri.Mutthiah Bhagavatar. (I believe he is the
>composer of "Himagiri tanaye", "Jaalandara", "Sudhaamayee"... Correct me
I have a cassette by a andhra singer by the name prabhakar, and he visited a year
ago selling cassettes without proper labels. Te above 3 songs are sung in that
cassette. Could someone pl. tell me what the commonly applied raagaas are for these
kritiis ?
Seetamraju Udaya Bhaskar Sarma
(email : seetam @ ece7 . eng . wayne . edu)
Sriram Devanathan
Himagiri Thanaye is very good too.
Sriram
Komal Sundaram
in "suddha dhanyasi" and "Jaalendra" in "Gambeera Nattai" . I am not
sure about the other song.
BTW, IMHO, one of the best renditions of "Himagiri Tanaye" is by
the Late Maharajapuram Santhanam, in the Album "Maestro's Choice, Series One"
under the Music Today Label - (#C91016).
Hope this helps.
Komal Sundaram
Uma M Subramanian
>Thanks a lot for answering my earlier questions. I would like to know
>the time, place etc of Shri.Mutthiah Bhagavatar. (I believe he is the
>composer of "Himagiri tanaye", "Jaalandara", "Sudhaamayee"... Correct me
>please if I am wrong). Could someone please post an article on him.
>Thank you very much.
>vishwa
>
Born in Harikesanallur in 1877. Author of "Sangeetha Kalpadrumam". Said
to be an exponent of 'harikatha'. Compositions in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada
and Sanskrit which include pada varnas and tana varnas.
Uma Subramanian
PS: T.N. Seshagopalan, whose guru Ramanathapuram C.S. Sankarasivam was
a disciple of Muthiah Bhagavatar, has an album "Compositions of
Harikesa Muthiah Bhagavatar", which, in my opinion, is excellent. Has
some beautiful compositions such as "ennaalu" in Mandhari, "vancha thonu"
in Karnaranjani and "krpa nite" in Hamsanadam. Karnaranjani is among
the ragas that are said to be Muthiah Bhavatar's creations.
Thyagarajan Mohan
>In article <BxCwA...@news.iastate.edu> tmo...@iastate.edu (Thyagarajan
>Mohan) writes:
>Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar was not a contemporary of Swati
>Tirunal. Swati was a younger contemporary of the famous Trinity.
>I'm not sure Umabharanam is his creation.
Thank you.It's my mistake.Umabharanam is not his raga.I'm slowly recolle-
cting some more,Pasupathipriya,Guha Ranjani,PoorNa Lalitha,PoorNa Panchamam,
Dhuni Binna Shadgam and of course KarNa Ranjani as you indicated.This has been
made famous by Ambujam Krishna and MLV.
Though I'm aware of some news about Swathi ThirunaaL's correspondence
with St.Thyagaraja(He died later than the other two),if I'm not mistaken,there
is a song of Swathi ThirunaaL in the raga Valaj(not Kalaavathi) which is
unduoubtedly Muthiah Bhagavtthar's creation.Can any person clarify this point?
(Pleeeease,no fumes).This is the reason,mainly for my personal clarification,
I wrote the above lines.
>S.Vidyasankar
Thanks in Advance.
MOHAN
Srinivasan Pichumani
>In article <BxGK6...@news.iastate.edu> tmo...@iastate.edu (Thyagarajan Mohan) writes:
>
>Can you or someone else post the lakshanams of the ragas created by
>Muthaiah Bhagavatar, including Pasupathipriya, Guha Ranjani, PoorNa
>Lalitha, PoorNa Panchamam, Dhuni Binna Shadgam and KarNa Ranjani ?
>
>PJN
dhunibhinnashadjam is not a creation of muttaiAh bhAgavatar. It is the
the equivalent of the melakarta "dhenukA" in the asampUrNa mela paddhati.
There is a muttusvAmI dIkShitar kriti in this rAga and
also another kriti by PonnaiAh Pillai -- a member of the Tanjore
quartet -- in which he pays homage to his gurU, muttusvAmI dIkShitar; it
starts off as "shrI guruguha svAmiki ..."
--Srini.
P J Narayanan
>with St.Thyagaraja(He died later than the other two),if I'm not mistaken,there
>is a song of Swathi ThirunaaL in the raga Valaj(not Kalaavathi) which is
>unduoubtedly Muthiah Bhagavtthar's creation.Can any person clarify this point?
>(Pleeeease,no fumes).This is the reason,mainly for my personal clarification,
>I wrote the above lines.
>
I think Swathi Thirunal and Thyagaraja dies in the same year, 1847. Swathi
Thirunal lived a short life; I think he was born in 1812, but I may be
off by 1 or 2 years.
I don't know if Valaj (or Valaji or Valachi) is Muthiah Bhagavatar's
creation or not. But, hearing the fame of Muthiah Bhagavatar, Maharaja
Chithira Thirunal of Thiruvithancore invited him to Thiruvananthapuram
(possibly in 1934, I wouldn't trust my memory!). He was the first
principal of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal music college. He has a major
hand in setting to music and in popularizing Swathi Thirunal's
compositions. His successor, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, followed him
in this path. One of the following might have happened:
1. Swathi Thirunal has composed songs in many Hindustani ragams.
It is possible that he had composed one in KalAvati, which
was transcribed later as Valachi by Muthiah Bhagavatar
(or Semmangudi).
2. Many kritis of Swathi Thirunal *may* have been of unknown raga.
It is possible Muthaiah Bhagavatar assigned one (guessed ST's
mind?) to Valachi.
Can you or someone else post the lakshanams of the ragas created by
Muthaiah Bhagavatar, including Pasupathipriya, Guha Ranjani, PoorNa
Lalitha, PoorNa Panchamam, Dhuni Binna Shadgam and KarNa Ranjani ?
PJN
--
---
Robotics Institute, CMU p...@cs.cmu.edu
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
---
Devanathan Raghavan
>BTW, IMHO, one of the best renditions of "Himagiri Tanaye" is by
>the Late Maharajapuram Santhanam, in the Album "Maestro's Choice, Series One"
>under the Music Today Label - (#C91016).
>
I would vote for GNB's rendering of this song in many of his
old concerts as a cut above the rest (IMHO)
-raghavan
Krishna Kunchithapadam
:Can you or someone else post the lakshanams of the ragas created by
:Muthaiah Bhagavatar, including Pasupathipriya, Guha Ranjani, PoorNa
:Lalitha, PoorNa Panchamam, Dhuni Binna Shadgam and KarNa Ranjani ?
paSupathe preyA:
s r2 m1 p m1 d2 S
S d2 p m1 r2 m1 s
guha ra~janE:
s r1 s m1 p d2 n2 S
S n2 d2 n2 p m1 g3 s
karNa ra~janE:
s r2 g2 m1 g2 p d2 S
S n2 d2 p m1 g2 r2 s
I don't believe the other rAgas are creations of Muthaiah
Bhagavathar.
-- kRShNa
vi...@nntp-server.caltech.edu.ogi.edu
- is a song of Swathi ThirunaaL in the raga Valaj(not Kalaavathi) which is
- unduoubtedly Muthiah Bhagavtthar's creation.Can any person clarify this
point?
- (Pleeeease,no fumes).This is the reason,mainly for my personal
clarification,
- I wrote the above lines.
-
-
The most probable reason is this. The Travancore royal family commissioned
Muthiah Bhagavatar to set Swati's kritis to music. What was available was
palm leaf manuscript bundles with the lyrics. These were all attributed to
Swati Tirunal and the ragas and talas were chosen by Muthiah Bhagavathar
and later Semmangudi.
Interestingly this led to the controversy whether all the songs that were
popularised were indeed Swati's or not. Some famous varnams now attributed
to Swati have also been claimed by the descendants of the Tanjore Quartet
to be their compositions. A book published by K.P. Sivanandam, the Veena
artiste and K.P. Kittappa, the dance guru, claims the Ata tala varnams in
Kambhoji (Sarasijanabha) and Sankarabharanam (Chalamela) to be the
compositions of one of the Tanjore Quartet. S. Balachander took up this
matter with Semmangudi and Madras Music Academy etc.. But that is another
story!
S.Vidyasankar
Viswanath Nanjundiah
Himagiri Tanaye is in 'Shuddha Dhanyasi', Jaalandarais in 'Valaji' and
Sudhaamayee is in Raga 'Amrita Varshini'.
hope I a mright.
vishwa.
Rajan Parrikar
>I have a question : is "dhunibhinnashadjam" the same as
>"Bhinna Shadaj" (Hindustani ?) ? I have heard Kishori Amonkar's
>rendenring of Bhinna Shadaj "Bhajo re mana hari naam", and
>the swaras are ( i think) :
Bhinna Shadaj is pentatonic and also goes by the name Kaushik Dwani.
Briefly, Aroha: S G M D N S' Avaroha: S' N D M G S
All shuddha swaras. Reminiscent of Raga Hemant.
Lata Mangeshkar's Meera Bhajan "Ud jaa re kaagaa mera Shyam gaya bahot
din ka re ka re...." is set in this Raga.
Other than Kishori-tai's rendition check out Jasraj's.
Rajan Parrikar
==============
email: parr...@mimicad.colorado.edu
parr...@spot.colorado.edu
>Sa ni dha ni sa ga ma dha ni sa
>Sa ni dha ma ga ma ga sa ...
>
>/Raj
Raj Ganesan
"Bhinna Shadaj" (Hindustani ?) ? I have heard Kishori Amonkar's
rendenring of Bhinna Shadaj "Bhajo re mana hari naam", and
the swaras are ( i think) :
ARIJIT MAHALANABIS
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan with khyals in roopaktaal and teentaal. He referred
to this raga as Kausi Dhani.
Arijit.